CCTs, PhDs, CVs, LSHTM and the like.

My life has been reduced to acronyms. I feel like I’m constantly spouting jargon-y initialisms and becoming one of those people. You know the ones I’m talking about. Well, today has surely been an acronym-filled day of wonder. I woke up this morning with the intention of taking care of domestic chores, but decided to make the most of my time by getting some essay-writing done whilst the machines downstairs took care of my laundry. Got one load done and, sadly, have another load waiting to be taken care of. It’s going to be sitting there for a while because I’m out of change. Gotta head next door to Le Pain Quotidien for a coffee and coinage. In any case, I started writing an essay on the effects of CCTs (conditional cash transfers) on realizing children’s rights when I got an email about sending in my CV for review for a PhD program at LSHTM (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine… that one NEEDS an acronym; if I had to spell that out in its entirety every time, my fingers would fall off).

Certainly, I’m excited. Their PhD program offerings are perfectly aligned with my research interests and the school has a stellar reputation. Plus, it’s part of the University of London and after my pretty awesome LSE experience, I have an affinity for all things UoL. The professors at the LSHTM have been amazing. I can’t even emphasize how wonderful they’ve been. I email them with a question or a concern and I get an email back the same day or early the following day with a slew of information. I haven’t even sent in my application yet and the people are kind enough to follow up with me and make sure I’m on track. Let me put this into context: I emailed an administrator at SDSU for their SDSU-UCSD combined Public Health PhD program over a week ago and I still haven’t heard back from them! Not even an automated-type response. There’s definitely something refreshing in feeling like your not just a number; like you’re actually a human being interested in spending a chunk of your life (and your life’s savings!) with the people at this university. If they don’t even have the courtesy to respond (or forward my email on to someone who would respond), do they really care about having me there as a student? PhDs aren’t normal run-of-the-mill classwork; it’s about finding a tutor that can mentor you and take you under their wing to make you the researcher/academic that you want to be. Out of the people that I’ve contacted thus far, the LSHTM seems like the most… receptive, most fitting. The people actually care! Perhaps they’re just an anomalous bunch.

In any case, I’m back to doing some work now and thoroughly excited about the prospect of a PhD!

Here’s to hoping.

xoxo,